Your child has started school and you are wondering if you should volunteer in your child’s classroom. On the one hand, you would like to know what your child is learning. On the other hand, you don’t want to embarrass your child or cause your child to be overly dependent on mom. What are the advantages of being a classroom mom, should you volunteer? I think the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.
If your child is struggling with a subject, you will be one of the first people to know about it. You will be able to help your child at home with mastering the subject before your child drops behind peers. You saw the teacher explain it to the class so you know how to do it, in case you had forgotten. When a parent cannot help a child with homework, the parent loses a piece of the child’s respect.
If your child is struggling with peer relationships then you will know right away. You can talk to your child at home and possibly even role-play some scenarios. If a bully is picking on your child, you can teach techniques to avoid harassment. You may even realize that your child needs to enroll in a martial arts class to learn self-defense and build self-esteem.
As children mature, they sometimes like to “forget” their homework. If you are volunteering in the classroom then you will know if your child has homework. You won’t receive a surprise note a week before the end of the semester. A note that says your child is missing 20 assignments and currently has an “E” in Social Studies and Science.
If your child starts hanging out with the wrong crowd, you’ll know and intervene. Of course, you can’t tell your child not to play with certain children that will encourage it even more. You can however, sign up your child for baseball, soccer, or boy scouts to encourage new, positive relationships. If you were not volunteering, you might not know about those negative relationships until they are firmly established. That would make them much harder to change.
If your child lacks the independence of peers for a few years because you volunteered in the classroom, then so be it. By graduation, your child will be emotionally and academically stronger then peers, because you cared enough to be there. That is well worth a few minutes of embarrassment.
by Julia Fuller
I started volunteering in my daughter’s classroom this year, even though at first I was concerned that the effort of finding babysitting for my younger children would outweigh the benefits. But I’m so glad I have. I’ve gotten to learn the names of all the kids in the class, and seen some of the classroom instruction. I’ve even made candy experiment presentations in the classroom, which were so much easier since I already knew the kids.